Underscoring the reality that there's still so much we don't know about the novel coronavirus, we got curveball over the weekend: a tiger at the Bronx Zoo tested positive for COVID-19, and several other big cats are showing symptoms. Does that prove humans can pass along the virus to animals........and what about vice versa?

As the wide-spread shelter in place orders stretch toward the one-month mark, our anxieties are growing.......and so are our bad habits.  Rates of alcohol and marijuana use are spiking; and alarmingly, so are calls to suicide prevention hotlines. We'll check in on how our mental health is holding up.

We're asking on today's show if our drinking water supplies are safe during this outbreak, and this is a two part question: can the virus live in drinking water, and are what are water treatment plants doing to keep their operations uninterrupted during a national lock-down? 

And the economic stimulus programs meant to prop up Americans and small businesses have stumbled out of the gate. We'll get a progress report on how loans, grants and individual payments are going.

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Disinfecting........your hands, your food, your house, pretty much everything........has become the trendiest activity out there, in our coronavirus era.  And let's face it, we don't have much else to do these days, so we obsessively clean.

So what are the best products to use that will actually kill coronavirus? And those disinfectant wipes that are insanely popular....are they effective?

It's going to take a one-two punch of a vaccine for COVID-19 and effective treatments to get our lives back to normal--so how's it going on both efforts?

How does this pandemic, both the pace of the outbreak and our response, match up to previous events like the Spanish flu or Ebola?  We'll ask a medical historian.

There are a lot of people asking about those grim projections out of the White House of mass infections and deaths from COVID-19. So we'll run the numbers.

And...how much have you been streaming lately? Made it through your "to-watch" list? How long until the entertainment well runs dry?

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A dubious record was set today in the United States:  6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment over the past week...that makes it almost 10 million people in total who have lost their jobs just within the past two weeks.  The economic damage wrought by the coronavirus outbreak is horrible, and getting worse.

Any hope of a rebound is dependent on getting control of the outbreak, and that remains an elusive target since there's still so much we don't understand about how this virus works.  

A big part of that knowledge comes from understanding how this all began --- could it be possible that this coronavirus had been circulating among humans for years before it turned deadly? There's a new theory. We'll talk with a researcher tracing the origins of the outbreak.

And we'll talk with the heads of a pair of supermarket chains about the continuing challenge of keeping the shelves stocked, and keeping their workers healthy.

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first of the month is a stressful day for many Americans even under the best of circumstances; but today, April 1st, represents the first test of strained finances, as millions of people who have been laid off, furloughed or taken pay cuts due to the coronavirus outbreak have to pay rent, mortgages and bills.

Is there a way to prevent COVID-19 infections?  While there's no full proof -way ... but there are some pretty simple methods under investigation that could help boost your immunity.

Sophisticated emergency rooms in New York City quickly found themselves overwhelmed with coronavirus patients.......which could be a bad omen for ER departments at smaller hospitals in more rural areas.  Are they prepared for what's coming?

Turns out China's numbers -  about the extent of the coronavirus outbreak - do not add up.

And....the toilet paper shortage. We have all experienced this one.  We'll talk with one of the biggest paper producers in the country and press them on picking up the pace.

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The frantic search for ventilators has turned into something of a free for all as states compete with each other -- and FEMA -- to get as many as possible to treat critical coronavirus cases.  Why are ventilators in such short supply and could the buying process be much better organized?  

Coronavirus is starting to take a heavy toll on the  New York Police Department, with upwards of 12-percent of the force calling in sick every day.  If infections start to hit the LAPD hard, the effects for Los Angeles could be devastating.  We'll ask the LAPD officers union chief about preparing for the worst.

California's surgeon general has a reminder for the millions of people across the country trapped inside for weeks and highly fearful of the  outbreak: don't forget to keep taking care of yourself, take care of any preexisting medical conditions... and keep an eye on your stress level.  We'll talk with the state's first surgeon general about staying safe, and sane, in the midst of a pandemic.

And Jane Fonda.......veteran actress, Hollywood icon and long-time political activist ... isn't going to get coronavirus stop her climate change activism.  We talk with her about moving the weekly climate change protests into the virtual world.....and she gives some tips for staying fit in quarantine.

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Even as we brace for the worst from this nation-wide outbreak of coronavirus, the statistics cited by Dr. Anthony Fauci - the infectious disease expert on the president's task force - came as a shock: even with long-term social distancing practices, 100 to 200-thousand Americans could die.

Could things really get that grim?  We'll go In Depth.

Another bad side effect of the outbreak:  brace yourselves for spiking health insurance premiums over the next year.

And it's been talked up by President Trump himself, the mix of an anti-malaria drug with antibiotics as a treatment for COVID-19.  Is it a possible miracle cure or high-risk snake oil?

Whole Foods workers are the latest group of front-line grocery store workers who are walking out on a one-day strike to protest a lack of protective gear and make demands for hazard pay.  Do grocery store clerks, baggers and checkers deserve much more during this crisis?

And...our great national toilet paper shortage continues.  Why? Why is it proving so difficult to ramp up production of toilet paper, paper towels and hand sanitizer?

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The models aren't pretty, they're variable and they still carry a lot of uncertainty---but, epidemiologists are attempting to map out the course of the coronavirus outbreak, when it will peak and when it might start to decline.  We're going to follow how one model plays out, but the main takeaway is this:  prepare to keep everything shut down for a while longer yet.

The tug of war over ventilators for hospitals to treat coronavirus patients has now become political, but at its heart it's a logistics question: how can complicated pieces of machinery be built quickly and deployed quickly?  We'll go In depth.

Supermarkets are pretty much the last place where masses of people can gather and as a result, they're now the focal point of major anxieties.  Are grocery stores breeding grounds for spreading coronavirus infections?

And why do shortages in so many key products continue, even as authorities insist there are no supply issues?

Finally we'll take a look at our great national home-schooling experiment:  how has remote learning gone for your kid, two weeks into this forced experiment?

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus outbreak was made painfully clear this morning when we learned that almost 3-point-3-million Americans filed for unemployment in just the past week.  And here's what's really sobering: this is just the first wave of what's expected to be millions more. 

The 2-trillion-dollar stimulus package is coming, but will that be enough? Who will get checks from the government? 

Meanwhile emergency rooms across the country -- and especially in New York City and New Orleans -- are starting to feel the strain from an influx of patients. With ER departments running short on beds, ventilators and protective gear, the worse is probably yet to come.

What's happening in states that have not yet started closing businesses and ordered people to shelter in place -- what are they waiting for?

And today was supposed to be the opening day for Major League Baseball's 2020 season.  Instead, stadiums will remain empty.  We'll talk with the voices of the LA Dodgers and New York Yankees on whether a season can be salvaged.

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus outbreak was made painfully clear this morning when we learned that almost 3-point-3-million Americans filed for unemployment in just the past week.  And here's what's really sobering: this is just the first wave of what's expected to be millions more. 

The 2-trillion-dollar stimulus package is coming, but will that be enough? Who will get checks from the government? 

Meanwhile emergency rooms across the country -- and especially in New York City and New Orleans -- are starting to feel the strain from an influx of patients. With ER departments running short on beds, ventilators and protective gear, the worse is probably yet to come.

What's happening in states that have not yet started closing businesses and ordered people to shelter in place -- what are they waiting for?

And today was supposed to be the opening day for Major League Baseball's 2020 season.  Instead, stadiums will remain empty.  We'll talk with the voices of the LA Dodgers and New York Yankees on whether a season can be salvaged.

Congressional leadership and the White House have agreed on a 2-trillion stimulus package, in an attempt to pull back the American economy from the brink of a coronavirus-induced depression.  How did it come together? And where will all that money go? 

In the months we've been covering the outbreak, we've focused on medicine, science, education, politics and even mental health........but we haven't talked about how everyone's spirituality has been tested.  Are you feeling more religious in the midst of a pandemic?

Air travel has been massively disrupted, and might be on the verge of being shut down entirely:  so what does that mean for anyone still trapped overseas?  We'll talk with one American who's been stuck in Peru for weeks, as borders close down.

And the stress is mounting.........we're two weeks into closed schools, working from home and sheltering in place.  How are you managing the stresses of health, finances and cabin fever?

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices